WILLOW STREET - Kendall Beck delivered the game-winning run with an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, scoring Annie Hartman and giving Hempfield a riveting 3-2 win over Manheim Central in the L-L League softball championship game Wednesday night at Garrett Field.
"Honestly, I couldn't have scripted this," first-year Hempfield coach Brian Lohr said. "I'm still in shock."
Beck's RBI capped a 3-run rally by Section 1 champ Hempfield, which won its 21st game in a row and dethroned Manheim Central, which won the league title last spring with a win over Conestoga Valley.
Freshman pitcher Lauren Lichtenwalner earned the win in relief; she replaced starter Kate Hohman with two outs and one runner on in the top of the second - and allowed just two hits the rest of the way.
After a 30-minute rain and lightning delay, the Section 3 runner-up Barons (17-6) plated two runs in the top of the first on Rachel Clippinger's 2-strike RBI bunt single and an RBI grounder by Courtney Hoffer.
The Barons opened the game single-walk-single-single and led 2-0 before the crowd got settled in after the delay.
Manheim Central ace pitcher Sara McKee - a veteran of postseason wars and championship games - allowed just two hits over the first four innings before Hempfield, which was charged with three errors, finally got cooking in the fifth.
"The first couple of innings we were kind of kicking it around and things were fuzzy around the edges," Lohr admitted. "But everyone knew this was the grand finale for the league, so we made some adjustments."
In the bottom of the fifth, Hartman worked a leadoff walk and was bunted to second, and went to third on a single by Nikki Rhoads.
Then Beck had her first big hit of the night, lining a single to left to score Hartman and Rhoads, who moved up to second via a stolen base.
Tie game.
Hartman started the winning rally with a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh.
McKee struck out back-to-back batters before Rhoads beat out an infield chopper, advancing Hartman to second.
Beck did the rest, lacing a single between third and short to plate Hartman, who belly-flopped across home plate with the championship-winning run, giving Hempfield its first L-L League banner since 2003.
"She was the right girl at the right time," Lohr said of Beck's game-winning hit. "Kendall is an athlete who swims and who has a field hockey scholarship to Shippensburg. She's used to playing in big games. She has enough controlled agression to stand in there and do the work."
Next stop for Hempfield - and its impressive winning streak - is the District 3 Class AAAA playoffs. The Knights (21-2) finished as the No. 2 seed, and should have everyone's attention as the L-L League champ.
Manheim Central, the two-time reigning District 3 Class AAA champ, will go for three titles in a row as the No. 5 seed.
FINAL DISTRICT 3 SOFTBALL POWER RATINGS
"The target will be on our backs now," Lohr said. "We'll have a lot of attention going into Districts now. But I'd rather have that than people say, Oh well, it's Hempfield, and we're going to kick them around."